Top 10 Unexpected Health Benefits of Coffee

Everyone wants to live forever...right? Modern medicine has been extending our average lifespans for decades, but there are of course ways that we can personally help to ensure that we live as long as possible. Exercise and a healthy diet help of course, but add to both of those things just enjoying your cup of joe in the morning. In a large study of 41 thousand men and 86 thousand women, it was revealed that drinking coffee contributed to a 20% lower risk of mortality in men and 26% in women.

So you probably know that if you miss your morning dose of caffeine for some reason, you might find yourself with a splitting headache by lunch time. This is due to withdrawal symptoms, and brewing yourself a cup will undoubtedly cure your ailment. But let’s say you’ve got a headache or even a migraine that isn’t caffeine related. Lots of over the counter pain medications actually contain caffeine and many people say that drinking coffee can improve their headache symptoms. The opposite can also be true though, so trust what your body is telling you!

Caffeine is a stimulant, so the very same things in your morning cup that help you get out of bed also help keep your metabolism going. According to many studies, drinking coffee even helps you to burn fat throughout the day. Nutritionist Sarah Flowers says, ““Your daily cup of coffee can help boost your metabolic rate, by stimulating thermogenesis, helping you in turn to burn more fat.” And advocates of a low carb, high fat diet attest to the fact that bulletproof coffee is the best way to start your day.

The diabetes epidemic in the United States and abroad has reached a breaking point, so there has been much discussion in recent years about how to prevent this disease. Doctors have a wide variety of tips, but one of the easiest to implement is just drinking coffee! In a 2009 study, it was shown that participants who drank three cups of coffee or tea every day were about 40% less likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. That’s pretty significant! In the short term though, caffeine has been shown to impair insulin levels, so proceed with caution!

Parkinson’s Disease, like another neurodegenerative disease Alzheimer’s, has no cure as of now, so all we can do to fight it is work on preventative measures. In a variety of studies done over the years, it has been shown that people who consume caffeine have a lowered risk for developing the disease. Some researchers recently claimed that drinking coffee could help calm the tremors of people who already have Parkinson’s Disease, but this seems to have been a myth that has since been debunked.

One common myth about coffee is that is raises your blood pressure, which can be problematic for a variety of reasons. Luckily though, while this can sometimes be true, the effect it has is quite marginal and if you’re a regular coffee drinker, it may not affect you at all. And while strokes do affect many thousands of people each year, drinking coffee seems not to be a factor that contributes to them. In fact, it has been shown to help prevent them, with regular consumers being shown to have a 20% lower risk.

Not only does drinking coffee potentially prevent strokes, it also lessens your chances for experiencing a heart attack, heart failure, or coronary heart disease according to a new study shown at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in 2017. This is just the latest bit of researching confirming something we’ve known for a while: that coffee drinkers seem to have healthier hearts. And while some things should be enjoyed in moderation, in this case every cup of coffee you drink (up to 6 per day) seems to make your odds of avoiding heart disease better and better!

If there’s one thing people are afraid of these days, it’s cancer. Cancer rates seem to be climbing, and almost everyone’s lives have been touched by the disease in one way or another. Luckily, coffee is full of antioxidants, and in the standard American diet, it can actually be the most significant source of antioxidants in some people’s lives. It also seems that coffee drinkers are less likely to develop certain cancers, like liver cancer and colorectal cancer. The piece that has been bigger in the news lately is about coffee having to be listed as a carcinogen, but that has been quite controversial in the medical community.

If you have elderly people in your life, it’s very likely that you’ve seen firsthand just how devastating Alzheimer’s and dementia can be. Not only does coffee work to fight against these diseases, it can also help younger people with their brain health as well! If you’ve got a big test or presentation coming up, it can actually help to drink coffee while you go over your notes as it has been proven to improve your short term memory. So if you’re staying up all night cramming, the caffeine in your energy drink will do more than just keep you awake!

We’ve spent most of this list talking about physical health, but it turns out that coffee can be beneficial for your mental health as well. Everyone knows that your morning mug will perk you up first thing in the AM, but it can help your mood in even more significant ways. Various studies have shown that caffeine can help prevent depression, despite the fact that some sources don’t recommend coffee for those suffering from mental illness. So don’t feel guilty about pouring yourself that second cup, because there are tons of benefits to be had in every ounce you drink!